See,
life is an adventure made richer by the people
around you and those you meet on the road.
I'm Dominic.
And when I met Ernie Greenwald,
I wanted to help realize his dream to cycle across the USA.
I'm looking forward to seeing the country that I've lived
in for 70 plus years and never really seen.
But Ernie's adventurous hopes were destroyed.
It looks like maybe the cancer has got the better of him.
Had every reason to believe we'd be able to do it,
I suppose in a way, Ernie's left a legacy.
This is the story of how Ernie's impossible dream became possible
for 10 strangers that could never make this journey alone.
I
haven't been on a bicycle in 10 years.
We're riding cross country and we're loving it and living it and uh sharing it.
This is the last long bike from all I have.
Everything is perfect right now. Everything
nearly three months into our 4000 mile journey.
I had peddled from Los Angeles, California
to Ohio on my way to New York City.
So far, we had, had six other companions
and Diane was our seventh who suffered from peripheral neuropathy
a disorder that causes loss of sensation
and an inability to control muscles.
She hid the symptoms. Well,
it was only obvious to us when she had to hold on to her husband Doug to keep her balance
together with Doug on his own bike.
We had cycled from Chicago, Illinois to the shores of Lake Erie
about 70 miles away from the end of the seventh leg of our journey in Cleveland, Ohio.
Doug and Diane seem to be over the,
the three day hump. Usually the third day is the most difficult for everyone.
And then after that,
it starts to get a little easier.
I think I'm probably the tiredest,
the most reluctant to carry on of all of us.
That day, the autumn temperatures had returned,
forcing us to bundle up more than usual
and the cold highlighted a weakness
that peripheral neuropathy exaggerates in Diane.
Now, the,
the today because it was colder,
I'm much more numb than normal.
You know, my hands are, are very numb.
Uh, if it were much colder than this,
you know, I'd either have to wear thick gloves, uh, or
it, it would be too uncomfortable for me.
But apart from the cold,
Diane was feeling positive about this whole road trip experience.
Everything has really gone so well. Uh, uh,
we've had such perfect weather. I don't know about the rest of your trip, but
this has just been
delightful.
It'll be, it, it seems like it's going to be strange to go home.
It took me a while to realize that this journey was a very
different challenge for Diane than it was for many of our other companions
by sitting, um,
by sitting on the front of our bicycle. Diane is kind of
admitting to everyone that
there is an issue that she has an impairment
that prevents her from
doing things that she would otherwise really like to do.
And
I think that's,
I think that's quite a big step because
up till now she was telling me that she's kind of got away
with
pretending she doesn't.
As soon as you admit, you have a disability,
people quite often treat you differently.
Sometimes you can't hide it.
But if you can hide it and then you choose to admit it,
maybe you risk being treated differently. And
that's something I guess on this trip that Dan's just prepared to,
to weather.
I think having her husband Doug
with her is a massive
confidence booster means she, she doesn't feel like she has to put upon any of us.
Uh And she would rather not.
Um
And Doug's very used to
literally
giving her a,
you know, a shoulder to lean on
with a new member of our crew joining us for a few hours.
We started out on Diane's last day.
We had no idea we were heading into what was just for the day,
the busiest place in Ohio.
Fun as it was
Ohio's wooly bear parade,
stopped traffic for miles around and blocked our path to Cleveland.
But this late into our journey, nothing,
not even a marching band would stop Diane from having
a lunchtime nap in the warmth of the restaurant.
But it didn't last too long
since she too, wanted to arrive at our final destination that day.
Diane had made it fairly clear that apart from a couple of bad night's sleep,
the journey with us had been fun.
I was pleased to hear that her husband
Doug gained something from the experience as well.
We've been through some tough doings
and it set a new standard for do ability. I mean, it, I,
I haven't been worried about anything
adventure takes on a new
path and I think Diane has found that camping isn't, isn't so awful. We'll see. But
that's fun too.
Having dug along also shed an interesting light on
Diane's disability and her increasing reliance on him.
I, I said
earlier bittersweet, I mean that you wouldn't want the
ailment and yet out of the ailment comes a relationship
that's a lot more that I wish it would,
you know, had some time earlier
together in that last damp day in the saddle,
we cycled into Cleveland to enjoy one of the best rewards of long distance cycling.
I'm thinking food, all I can think about is food. This is like
intoxicating, just looking at
it. I
could be about anything in here
immediately.
After engorging on the best that Cleveland had to offer,
the time had come to say farewell to yet another companion.
I don't know. Goodbyes. I, you know, I don't like conclusions,
but once it's over, it's over
and I'm anxious for the other person
to get in there because for you, it's a whole new story too. It's a whole new chapter.
You have no idea.
It'll be, it'll be another adventure
with Doug and Diane having completed their leg of the journey,
we rested in Cleveland before picking up our next rider
and our first veteran to join us on the ninth leg.
Over 190 miles from Cleveland, Ohio
to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
15 days to go on this journey
and Jimmy is just about to ride with us and
see how this bike fits him.
Uh My name is Jimmy Klingle. I'm from Worcester, Ohio.
Um
I retired out of the Marines in 2005. I was wounded twice. Um Same day a year apart.
Uh April 5th, 2003. April 5th, 2004.
And that's uh my purple heart tattoo I have.
And that's the United States Marine Corps bulldog.
I was injured the first time with a rocket propelled grenade and that blast,
I lost the hearing in my left ear.
I took shrapnel in my backside
and in my right groin.
Um that affects me. My right leg is numb till mid
foot. I can feel my toes.
But other than that, I don't have any feeling or sensation from my hip down.
And I was also wounded again from a roadside bomb an IED in Fallujah Iraq,
uh April 5th 2004.
And in that blast, I had broken
my back. I fractured my L two and L three.
I broke both arms and legs in numerous spots.
And again,
I took a lot of shrapnel seeing a picture of Jimmy's vehicle off to the blast.
It was hard to believe that he had escaped to life.
I have a uh traumatic brain injury. A TB I from the blast.
I tend to forget what I'm talking about. I, I tend to forget people's names. And
for the most part, I, I do remember, but sometimes I struggle to come out with a,
a sentence that I need to
Jimmy relished the prospect of another challenge.
But I was anxious about the increasingly uncomfortable conditions.
We would be riding in
the last two weeks.
I think of this trip is just gonna be tougher on
us and tougher on the bike cos we're going into Pennsylvania now
and
I have a feeling there are some pretty steep hills coming up, uh, and hills plus rain,
wet leaves,
cold equals
miserable.
But for now, at least
the weather treated us kindly
as we pedaled out of downtown Cleveland, Ohio
through the industrial flats and out into the country again.
So how many miles is it? To Pittsburgh
about 100 and 50.
Not too far,
Jimmy just said that was
one less hill that we had to climb.
I'm not gonna begin to count hills in Pennsylvania. I don't think
away from the sound of traffic.
I asked Jimmy more about his tours in Iraq,
going by a mosque
and there's little kids on the street
and normally the town is full of people.
The marketplace would always be busy
as we come. Cruising into the town.
There's no one to be found, except maybe a couple of kids walking away from the town.
And as I came up to the cement blocks,
I went to the right
and I woke up in the hospital 2.5 weeks later
with, uh, extensive wounds.
I, I really, you know, as soon as I came to when I was conscious again,
I, I kind of figured I'm not doing very well. So I figured that someone had to die,
but I didn't know that all four of the guys in the back were killed.
So, only myself and passenger were the only two that lived
after hearing about Jimmy's harrowing experiences.
We reached camp and set up for the night
end of day one
with Jimmy on the bike. All is, well, we've gone about 50 miles, I think.
Anyway, I think I'm gonna light the fire before it gets cold cos it's gonna get cold,
uh, much quicker than it used to
that evening.
Sitting down to cook.
Jimmy suddenly alerted us to a quickly emerging problem.
Day one with Jimmy cycling east out of Cleveland had gone smoothly
but having only just dug in for the evening,
Jimmy alerted us that he had developed a serious issue.
So just let me get this clear. You've been in pain for 10 minutes.
It's been pretty much consistently at an eight.
Yeah.
And it's not a pain that you felt before. No,
I mean, it's not my shrapnel wounds.
I know that
with Jimmy unable to identify the cause of the pain,
we headed straight for the nearest emergency room.
She is, uh, ordered an ultrasound on my testicle and,
and, uh, ordered an IV
for medication
fun times
as I sat in the hospital,
I worried that this was the end of the road for Jimmy's journey
all
plugged in.
How's your morphine feeling?
Not so much pain?
It's noticeable but it's
not
intense.
I say
by 10 p.m.
it seemed likely that he could continue on the trip a
pleasant evening in uh, in the
emergency
room.
But uh best thing is nothing too serious.
So
Jimmy, tell me
exactly what they said you have.
I said I have a hydro
which is, I guess fluid around the testicle.
Please, to escape the hospital with a non lethal chafing injury.
Jimmy and I returned to camp
best news this morning
is that Jimmy seems ok.
Uh,
it doesn't seem to hurt too badly. So I think he'll be able to
carry on cycling, which is good.
The worst thing about it this morning is that
looks like winter
after servicing the bike's brakes in preparation for the steep hills ahead.
Jimmy surprised me by presenting us with a gift after only one day on the road,
Jimmy has just
and I'm sure
I don't deserve this. We deserve it. I think as the Domino
crew
for all of you
awarded one of his uh dress uniform, purple hearts to us.
So we'll take this on the remainder of the trip
back. Thanks, Jimmy.
Thank you.
That's the least I can do.
Jimmy was able to hide most of the discomfort. Any of his war wounds caused him.
It was only when getting off the bike after a long stint in the saddle
that his nerve damaged leg let him down.
No right leg. Jimmy making an attempt to get off the bike.
Take one,
my
phone.
There you go.
Got
you. Alright. Yep. Is he coming back?
Well,
it's like that pins and needles feeling
sorry.
I can't help thinking it's my fault. Well, I know it's my fault. I see.
All right,
you got it back.
Yeah.
Yeah,
just like,
you know,
Jimmy's toes are back. People who
I got toes,
uh, these hills getting towards Pennsylvania.
Not still, not quite, we're still in Ohio, but
they're getting hard short, but steep.
And we haven't seen really steep hills.
Feels like since the south south to go to the Black Hills.
And tomorrow
we'll make it fingers crossed
to Pittsburgh.
So far,
Jimmy's leg of the journey had been interrupted
by an emergency visit to the hospital.
His last night on the road had been tranquil but wet.
It rained a great deal. Last night,
it was a pain in the ass getting the fire late this morning.
But, uh,
we'll manage,
gonna cook steak and eggs for breakfast.
That's if the support crew didn't attempt to initiate some kind of protest.
Today is Jimmy's last day.
We'll be arriving in Pittsburgh
probably this afternoon at some stage as long as it doesn't rain too much.
Uh, I think all of us,
including him, wishes
he'd been on the bike a little longer than three days,
but
that's how long this, this particular leg is. So that's what we got.
And I think he needs to get back to
Cleveland for some kind of award ceremony.
Ok, guys.
Ok, guys ready,
ready
with Nadia. The head of logistics. Giving the go ahead.
We rolled out for a damp and undulating day.
Pedaling into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
You see that sign?
I like that. So,
all right, downhill signs.
Well, let's, let's not crash.
We won't promise because I, I'd feel it first
again.
Oh, yeah.
Holy shit. Creak.
Yeah,
we coped well with the hills to begin with,
but unfortunately,
the weather turned against us.
But given how much Jimmy had been through already.
I didn't doubt his ability to grit his teeth and get on with it.
If it ain't raining,
it ain't training. He'd once said to me,
although Jimmy's shrapnel wounds gave him problems. Sometimes
his physical injuries paled in comparison to the hidden wounds of war
that he and many of his fellow soldiers have had to grapple with
some of the day.
The most dangerous part of, you know, post traumatic stress is, is unpredictable.
One minute you could be fine. And next minute you can think about what happened.
It's called Survivor's guilt. Why did I live?
And they, you know, the four guys didn't make it.
And then that can put you in a bad situation where suicide is thought,
not necessarily acting upon it but thinking about it, you know, well,
this is probably, you know, an easy way out.
I found on my own that
some of the medication were good.
But, uh,
the way I cope with it is I, I talk about
it,
I learned to, uh,
to be open about it. I have nothing to hide
and I actually
start conversations by talking about it because it, uh, eases my mind.
The worst hills of all were saved until just a stone's throw from Pittsburgh.
When neither Jimmy or I had a dry bone in our body.
These hills are killing me.
I hate them already.
It feels are something else horrible.
I find it amazingly hard to believe we're so close to the city,
rolling up to the end of the road.
I realized that after only three short days together,
I would miss Jimmy and his good natured determination as we moved forward.
In the next episode,
I meet Amy thre
my last companion.
Together, we take on the Appalachian Mountains,
the last barrier on our journey to New York City. And the end of our journey,
Pennsylvania wins the prize at the steepest hills on the trip.
If they get any steeper,
I'm going home.